

Brikena Gishto (SNFPHI); Elaine Smolen (respondent, Columbia University)
Faculty House and Online
24 █ March █ 2026
16 █ 00 - 17 █ 30 EST
SNFPHI awardee, poet, and sign language interpreting student Brikena Gishto will present her project The Wave in the Mind: A Poetry Workshop in Greek Sign Language, which gives members of the deaf and hard-of-hearing communities the chance to use visual-kinetic language to compose poetry, while also exploring how this work can challenge and expand the conventions of the poetic form. She will discuss with faculty from Columbia’s Teachers College the organizational and educational challenges that she has faced leading poetry workshops in the context of Greek public education and what it takes for literary fora to host poets from the deaf and hard-of-hearing communities.
Seating is limited. Registration closes at NOON on Monday, March 23rd. If you do not have a Columbia ID, you will receive a QR code to access the campus. Register here.
Image: I dream in Another Language (2017), dir. Ernesto Contreras